January 2016 Newsletter

January 2016 Newsletter

A Note from Your President

A New Year – Change Everything. Change Nothing.

If you are serious about being a professional in the world of speaking, I hope you have taken the opportunity to watch (or re-watch) the closing keynote presentation from Influence 2015. Mark Scharenbroich, CSP, CPAE (@NiceBikeMark), gave a tour-de-force show of strength, knowledge, humility, and humor.

NSA sent a DVD gift copy of the presentation to National Members, as part of Spirit of NSA month in November. For a limited time, you can also stream the presentation online at http://www.nsaspeaker.org/nsa-gift/. For me, his keynote was a top highlight of this year’s Convention.

When I experienced the presentation in Washington, D.C. in July 2015, it was like the old Memorex commercial — I was completely “blown away”! During Mark’s keynote I experienced highs, lows, affinity, jealousy, empathy, and elation. I felt at times that I wanted to be LIKE Mark, and even a bit of wanting to BE Mark.

And thus I was again reminded of perhaps the smartest wisdom in all of the world of the National Speakers Association. Be the best possible version of yourself, and don’t try to be anyone else.

Sometimes, NSA newbies AND NSA elders both get caught up in the traps of such things as “shiny object syndrome”, “get rich quick schemes”, and being “speaker celebrity star struck”. In many cases, we are looking for the quick and easy answer, when we all know that the only true path to success is to actually “walk the path”. There are no magic carpets on the ride of life. As David Newman said in November, “It’s amazing the results you do not get from the work that you do not do”.

As you look forward to 2016, please remember that change is Good. And change is Bad. Change that is right for you, and aligns with who you are, is always worth doing and helps you move forward in your business and life. Changing just for the sake of change, to try and be something that doesn’t align with your purpose and strengths? More than just a waste of time, it can sometimes create damage that will take significant time to fix.

Be aggressive. Be bold. Be thoughtful. Be caring. Be true to yourself, and Be your best version — as you aim for having Your Best Year Yet.

I’ll be walking that path right there with you.

NSA-North Texas Year-End Holiday Letter

Hopefully you have received your holiday greeting letter from us in the mail. It is a simple gesture of our Gratitude for your support and engagement in the North Texas Chapter. And it highlights the terrific programming we have scheduled for the next several months. You don’t want to miss this!

If you are a current Professional Member, or Membership Candidate with the NSA-NT Chapter, and you did not receive your letter in the “snail mail”, please contact our Chapter Support Executive, Paul Shimp, at paul@madcrouch.com. We may need to update our contact information for you.

And if you are not currently connected with our Chapter, can I suggest there is no better time to join us? 2016 is going to be a great year, and we cordially invite you to be a part of it with us.

December Meeting Shout-Outs

Big Thanks go out to our esteemed panel of speaking industry experts, who helped make the December Speaker Marketing Showcase a great success!

And Special Appreciation to the entire team who made this great event possible, led by your 2015-16 Programming Leader Andrew Szabo (@MarketingChef). And masterfully MC’d by our great storyteller, Dave Hill (@DaveHillSpeaks)

Our Next Seminar January 9, 2016

Thom Winninger, CSP, CPAE: From Zero to Sixty – How to Create a Busy Speaking Schedule and Having Fun Doing It

Topics include:

How to get busy in speaking

Identifying and packaging your most powerful message

How to become a celebrity in your niche

Turning a speech into books, tapes, articles, training guides and a youtube channel

Getting sponsorships/multiple speaking engagement with the same client

Social media mania, how to get it, and how to keep the momentum going

Becoming more that a one speech speaker

Moving from workshops to seminars to keynotes or vice versa

Creating a team on a zero budget

and any other question you want answered.

About the Speaker:

Thom Winninger

Thomas Winninger has given 3000 Keynote Presentations, authored 7 books, 300 articles, 250 video training modules, traveled 6 million miles, is in the CPAE Speaker Hall of Fame, is a Cavett Award Recipient and is the Founding Chair of the International Center for Professional Speaking â€“ Phoenix Arizona.

Special Discount Opportunity

External Opportunity with Special Discount for NSA North Texas Friends, and Chapter Contribution. Check it out now — Price Increases 31-Dec.

DISCLAIMER: This is a good opportunity, but it is NOT an official NSA North Texas event. A major discount is being offered to those in our Chapter. It is your full responsibility to make a good choice regarding whether this opportunity is right for your business and budget. Check out the website for full details.

Renowned speaking coach, Dean of the Wealthy Speaker University, and great NSA-NT Chapter Friend Jane Atkinson, is hosting a one-of-a-kind event designed to help you catapult your speaking business in 2016.

The Accelerate 2016 2-Day Business Growth Summit and Showcase is a two-day event taking place January 29th and 30th at the Highland Hotel in Dallas. Jane has assembled a ‘Dream Team’ faculty, with speaking mentor/coaches (like Lou Heckler and a few of our Chapter superstars – see site for details), speaker bureau owners, and speaker agents, They have created a program that will provide you what you need to catapult your business including:

Tools (that top speakers use) to grow your business quickly.

Insider advice and networking with people who book speakers daily.

Sharper platform skills to wow more audiences. (Your best form of marketing!)

Opportunities to showcase your talent to speaker bureaus and agents.

Meet valuable suppliers dedicated to making your business thrive.

However, the learning does not stop there! All attendees of the conference get a full year of access to the Wealthy Speaker U Community. This includes group coaching, the community only educational resources, teleclasses and podcasts and full access to the private community Facebook forum.

Because this event is designed to be very hands-on and interactive, registration is limited to 50 participants. Jane has offered a special discount for her NSA North Texas Chapter colleagues. All NSA-NT members can use the special discount code listed below to receive an additional $500 off registration. This discount can be combined with the early bird pricing, which ends on December 31st, for total savings of $1000.

And Jane has offered our Chapter an affiliate link, so be sure to use the links shown here (so we get credit)!

Pricing goes up January 1st -If you are ready to get focused and roll up your sleeves to accelerate your business in 2016, then don’t hesitate and register today! First come, first serve, limited seating.

Mentors, Mentees, and Deans at NSA-NT

byÂ Robert Menard

The NSA-NT Academy’s perennial success springs from three sources, dedicated students, accomplished industry professionals who serve as Deans, and the good work and guidance of Mentors. Besides imparting their industry skills, the Deans match mentees to the most compatible mentors. So what should mentees expect?

NSA-NT mentors are veterans who help emerging talent in many ways. The role of a mentor varies with the experience and expertise of the individual. We strive to coach, advise, help, and otherwise inform mentees in many areas of the speaking business. Even the most gifted speaker will suffer the fate of the “greatest speech never told” if he or she does not get to market. Navigating these muddy waters is the crux of the mentor’s value.

Mentees are generally eager to speak in front of audiences. While such passion is necessary, it is not sufficient to succeed. The typical mentee has absorbed information to the brim, interacted extensively with speakers and perhaps attended NSA functions. The mentor helps the mentee separate the wheat from the chaff. For example, speakers interested in corporate training markets should rate speakers bureaus at a much lower priority than keynoters and comedians do.

Business issues are paramount. Many putative speakers are overwhelmed with financial concerns and often return to “safer” employment, abandoning dreams of a speaking career. Flexibility is crucial for speakers. Over more than two decades in the business, I have seen many changes which forced shifts in strategy. In the early 1990s, “three stories and a poem” was heading for the keynote exit and the internet was still an arcane mystery. Since then, we have seen the rise and fall of public seminars, an upheaval in travel, particularly by air, virtual disappearance and subsequent resurgence of conventions and meetings, consolidation in speakers bureau, and other commotion in constant flux. Flexibility equals preparation for market changes.

Speaking can be the lead dog in a team of revenue generators. One strategy is to use speaking to advance much more lucrative consulting work. Another is to combine speaking and training with saleable products such as books, audio and visual media and so forth. Online course development is a terrific source of earning money while sleeping. We are limited only by our imaginations.

Adept use of social media may not be a necessary part of a speaker’s strategy. According to a New York Times story, Adele, currently the world’s most popular recording artist, sold more CDs in one week in November 2015 than the previous record holder in 2000 when CD sales were five times what they are now. Adele has almost no social media presence. The moral of the story is that not everyone goes to market in the same way. Finding your sweet spot is a constant search.

If you are a mentee, we invite you to ask questions and offer opinions. Working with you is a mentor’s duty and honor.

Robert Menard is a corporate trainer, consultant, convention speaker, author of books, audio products, online courses, coach, and adviser for several profession designations, and expert witness in matters of purchasing and negotiation. www.RobertMenard.com

you, the speaker – What happens on the party bus …

by Dave Lieber, CSP

Certainly you heard about the NSA/North Texas party bus heading to Austin for the Feb. 26-28 Winter Conference. For a few bucks, you can leave your car at home and travel in grand style with your chaptermates to the Austin Hilton and back.

Fortunately, I can tell you what will happen on the bus. I can see the future. Here’s how it goes:

Gary Rifkin, CSP, hosting the conference in Austin, begins the journey by taking the driver’s microphone and leading everyone in the Star-Spangled Banner. For an encore, he sings Cotton-Eyed Joe.

Chapter President Chris Price expresses his gratitude to everyone on the bus, including his board, the driver and the janitor who cleaned out the bus bathroom.

Mike Hoffman, CSP, goes down the aisle hugging everyone.

Christine Cashen, CSP, CPAE, leads the introductions.

Sally Baskey, CSP, spends the trip looking for a banana that fell off her Ida Mae Fuddpucker hat and rolled down the bus aisle.

Stu Schlackman, CSP, is sorry he didn’t save a seat for his brother.

Kate Delaney broadcasts her NBC radio show live from the bus. Her pleas to “Keep it down, I’m live on the air with Senator Cornyn” go unheeded.

Dave Hill breaks out craft beer he brewed in his backyard.

Linda Swindling, CSP, tells the bus driver that there’s a better way to get to Austin.

Tim Durkin, CSP, introduces the bus driver to a possible mentor in his field that could aid in the driver’s career advancement.

Bill Lynch gifts everyone on the bus their own personalized stationery set he printed at his shop.

Candace Fitzpatrick, CSP, asks the bus driver to complete a quick test so she can learn his traits.

Dr. Mary Warren passes out water bottles and explains that booze imbibed along the bus trip could lead to health problems later on.

Dianna Booher, CSP, CPAE, writes three books while on the bus.

Julie Alexander, CSP, makes sure everyone is having a great day.

Elizabeth McCormick gets impatient and explains that in her old Blackhawk helicopter she could get there a lot faster.

Doug Petersen, another former pilot, tells her to relax because the bus is safer.

Nancy Barry breaks out her homemade food delicacies and shares.

Betti Coffey asks the bus driver if she can hitch a horse trailer to the rear of the vehicle.

Ron Hoesterey tells a couple of bad jokes.

Lauren Midgley uses her contacts to arrange for the bus to stop in West for free kolaches.

Ann Ranson takes notes for a future TED talk on the bus ride.

Russ Riddle has a couple too many of Dave Hill’s home-brewed beers and sings his law school fight song (“Fight on Texas Tech Law School! Sue everyone in a courtroom duel!”)

Will this happen? We’ll never know. What happens on the party bus, stays on the ….

***

Since 2008Â @DaveLieber, CSP, has been writing a monthly column about all things NSA-North Texas. He’s The Watchdog investigative columnist for The Dallas Morning News. DaveLieber.org

DecemberÂ Meeting Recap

Speaker Marketing Showcase

by Stu Schlackman, CSP

From Shari Barth on her Top 10 Ways to work effectively with a Broker:

When submitting proposals, follow the Broker’s directions/restrictions to a “T”

When submitting proposals get them in ASAP

When submitting proposals, make it easy to select you- include all information requested, customize for the specific gig. Tweak your bio

Mirror the communication code- email to email, call to call

Treat the Broker as you would a Client

Be flexible on terms whenever possible

Return calls and emails from the Broker promptly but carefully- answer all questions and use spell check

Honor all commitments you make

If selected turn in all deliverables on time or early

When you speak or train, do your best work no matter what the size or $$ of the gig